Abra

The bun recipe is one I got from Chefpeon, it's very eggy and buttery. I tweaked it a tiny bit by adding a little fiori di Sicilia As predicted, my neighbor did want it fluffier, but her husband said he'd eaten 5 in a row, so I'm glad they aren't going to waste. I'm going to try again but double the yeast, to try to get that airy crumb. Ling, would you do the caramel as a smear then invert them, or really put it on the top?

Ling, for a southern-style dessert at this time of year I don't think you could do better than a strawberry (or raspberry) rhubarb pie. It's what's fresh. I sampled cinnamon buns I made for my Thai neighbor, and for my husband My neighbor wanted not too sweet, no nuts, some raisins, not too much cinnamon, no frosting. Chefpeon gave me her recipe suggestions to meet that request. In an effort to make them more Thai-style, I used palm sugar in the swirl, and it really disappeared into the dough. For my husband I used no raisins, but instead I added ground hazelnuts, with brown sugar and a little frosting. If I'd been making them for myself, they would have been sweeter, cinnamonier, and way stickier.

I'm sure you'll enjoy the Behold My Butt thread. Those of us who do a lot of smoking, grilling, and barbecue tend to hang out there. As to wine and flavor profiles, there's a reason we say chacun a son gout!

Thanks for this helpful little treatise, Darrell. I like the type distinctions you're making, and will think about this the next time I'm grilling/smoking. I do a lot of both in the summer, and drink a lot of wine as well, and it's always interesting to do the pairings. I almost always grill and smoke with wood logs, usually cherry, which does very well with the richer roses. Also, some of the very spicy stuff does better with an off-dry white than a spicy red like Zin, to my palate.

I do charcuterie because it's fun. It's very satisfying. I like knowing exactly what went into the meat. I like slow food projects, and working toward mastering an ancient culinary art. I like being able to serve homemade charcuterie to my friends, and they really like having it. It makes great gifts. I like to tweak it to my own tastes, and yes, a lot of what I've made is as good as or better than what I can buy, and we're talking Seattle, not Podunk.

I've resisted reading the alginate thread up to now, but that pea plate really sings to me. I'm afraid that there's alginate in my future. Are you using a mold for the little caviar shapes, or just drips and drops?

So weird that I've never seen it, since I spend a lot of time in a store with such ME exotica as pismaniye. I'm going there on Thursday, so I'll have a look for sure. I'm longing to make halvah ice cream, or even some sort of halvah tiramisu, or halvah panna cotta.

Mmm, my blueberries are ripening like crazy, so I see bluf in my near future. Maybe with a little drop of cassis?

I've never seen flaky halvah. Where did you find it?

Thanks so much! If only the low fat buttermilk is available, which I'm afraid is the case, would you sub a bit more cream, or just use it as is? And since you said the bacon didn't come through as much as you'd hoped, do you think leaving some crisps unpureed would be a good thing? That's 1/4 cup on the blondie heavy cream, right?

Hey, Shalmanese, that's very cool news! Now we won't have to commiserate with you about being off-season to the rest of the Dinner thread. Don't worry for a moment - when you get here, we'll show you everything. There are virtually no foods that are hard to find locally, you just need to know where to go. Well, if you use a lot of wattleseed, bring that with you. That's one I order online. The U District is a culinary wasteland, however, and I personally find it to be not a very nice place in general. Fremont and Ballard are hip, funky, and fun. You really need to see the different neighborhoods to make an informed decision, since their styles are very individual. When are you arriving?

I use this super-simple recipe Fine Cooking's pizza dough, doing the overnight version. The overnight retard is the key to a flavorful crust, and the hot oven and stone will get you the right texture. I've never done the freezer version, but I keep meaning to try that.

I'm really looking forward to this blog, except....are you going to have ANY time to cook?

Well, I'd love to have the whole series of recipes that went into the Varmint dinner, but with the peanut butter bacon blondie recipe and the corn ice cream recipe I could probably fake the rest, since I'm sure that typing them all up would be a major hassle. You've really been taking one for the team on the locavore theme. I've been a devoted CSA member for many years, but there's no way I come close to eating as locally as you have this week. My hat's way off to you!

Happy Birthday, Maggie! I love pineapple upsidedown cake. Hmmm, maybe I'll have to bake that for Chufi when she's here, it's so ultra-American. Thanks for that pistachio recipe, Klary. I'm going to try that for sure. It's true, Ling, that taste influences the perception of beauty. I would have a hard time thinking something was pretty if I knew it tasted crummy. I like the look of that sushi though - maybe I'm just a sucker for gimmickry at heart. For example, I totally love this sushi gimmick too.

Phlawless, there's no way you can end this blog without giving us the recipe for that dessert! That is right up there with the most unusual combinations I have ever heard of.

Klary, will you give us the pistachio cake recipe? I love pistachios, and eat some almost every day. Those Sanafir desserts are sure gorgeous, Lorna, especially that chocolate sushi. As to the espresso chiffon, I was surprised at how little it tasted like coffee, considering how dark the espresso had been, and how much of it there was in the batter. It tasted good, but only slightly of coffee. More nutty, I'd say. Now I want panna cotta - a perfect summer dessert.

Here's the Confit of Pork Salad with Green Beans and Cabbage This was a sleeper hit! It looks very simple, and in fact it is very simple. But my guests and even my somewhat salad-averse husband were still talking about this dish after dessert.

This is the Tunisian Poached Fish with Olives, Preserved Lemons, and Capers. It was good, although a bit delicate for my taste. I didn't make the le tabil spice, just using the coriander, and I used sturgeon, which is a very subtle fish, so those might be the reasons it wasn't my favorite dish ever. However, it was gorgeous, and tasty, served with herbed salt-roasted potatoes.

It's embarrassing, but I'm putting this up just cuz I said I would. This is half of the coffee chiffon, flat as a pancake, layered with a mix of creme fraiche and chestnut jam. As predicted, my by-then-sated guests gobbled it up, with some vanilla ice cream and fudge sauce on the side just in case. And my husband ate the broken pieces for breakfast, spread with cream cheese and Dutch chocolate sprinkles, so nothing was wasted. Still, not my finest hour, dessert-wise.

I'm going to put up both my nocino and vin de noix today, hurray! I made awesome vin de noix last year, but this will be my first nocino. Does anyone else want to weigh in on the sunshine vs. cool dark discussion? I can only use 100 proof vodka, in case that makes any difference to the heat/extraction equation.

No need to feel bad, Lorna, I should have greased the pan on my own recognizance! Anyway, I decided to apply the "tres leches" principle, split the flat round cake, stacked it with the split sides up, and slathered the cut surfaces with a mixture of equal parts creme fraiche and chestnut jam, and stuck it in the fridge to moosh together. It's a very winter-seeming dessert, and although I have fresh blueberries in the garden just waiting to be cooked into something summery, my husband doesn't eat fruit, so there you have it. I probably should announce it as Shmoo Torte when I serve it, that's such a great name. Keep your fingers crossed that the cake will soak up the creme, and I'll let you know how it turns out. I have to work on the rest of the dinner now, or I might have gone for a more elegant solution, but it is what it is, and probably everyone will eat it happily.

Arrgggh, this project didn't work. I replaced the full amount of coffee with espresso. Then I used 1 1/2 tsp vanilla and 1 1/2 tsp of coffee liqueur, so the liquid was the same. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly, including the injunction to use an ungreased pan. I have nearly new heavy duty nonstick mini Bundt pans, to which the cake stuck impossibly, so I couldn't get a single one out intact. And the remainder of the batter went into a silicone Bundt, which also stuck! I didn't think anything stuck to silicone. Now I'm in a quandary, and have guests coming in 3 1/2 hours. Should I make all the broken pieces into some sort of pudding? I have no cream in the house and no time to go get some, but I do have some creme fraiche. Or should I just serve slices of the larger cake, which is pretty flat, since it had only half the batter, with ice cream and fudge sauce and call it a night? Make something altogether new? I know this is the what I HAD for dessert thread, but I'm hijacking it for a few minutes into Can This Dessert Be Saved? Thanks for any brilliant ideas!

Ling, I'm making your Coffee Chiffon Cake right now, with espresso and coffee liqueur in it. It's making 6 mini Bundts plus half a regular Bundt pan - that is a seriously large recipe. It's smelling great as it bakes.

Congratulations, Steve! I'm really looking forward to your bean book.